Public school teachers retire much earlier than comparable professionals. Pension rule changes affecting new teachers can be used to close this gap in the long run, but any effects will not be observed for decades and the implications for workforce quality are unclear. This paper considers targeted incentive policies designed to deter retirement…

In an era in which public postsecondary institutions increasingly face budget constraints, the state residency of students has become an important factor in complex decisions on tuition-setting policies and enrollment management. This report examines the current trends and impact of out-of-state tuition premiums -- defined as the additional amount…

The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) and MHEC were awarded a competitive grant from the American Institutes for Research in 2019 as part of its National Research Collaborative on Postsecondary Competency-based Education and Learning (cberesearch.org). The grant objective was to specifically identify state policies…

Policy capacity in music education can be enhanced through understanding the policy-making process and state governmental policy. Three examples of engagement in state-level policy action are used to explore agency, negotiation, and visioning as important dispositions for advancing music education policy goals. First, influencing state-level…

States and local education systems hold the primary responsibility for delivering public education in the United States. During the past several years, the quality of the American education system has become national policy priority, replete with school reform efforts designed to hold all students to high standards, increase student achievement,…

Over the last two years the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC) staff conducted a thorough program review to determine the current relevance and value of the Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP). This culminated in the report "Student Reciprocity Programs and MSEP in the 21st Century" (ED627191) which utilized historical MHEC…

In today's evolving economy, state policymakers, education leaders, workforce system leaders and employers are all looking for opportunities to meet rapidly changing workforce needs. Economists project that shortages of workers with postsecondary education -- some college, an associate degree, bachelor's degree or higher -- could lead to nearly…

Shortages of teachers and parental disengagement are lamented as the reasons schools are just not what they were in days gone by. The consensus is that teachers are the most important within-school factor affecting student achievement. Yet U.S. student performance lags behind international counterparts, suggesting that there are not enough…

Historically, state departments of education, or SEAs, have--for the most part--been compliance-focused organizations that managed federal education policy. Over the past several decades, these agencies have been education policy implementation entities. Today, while their compliance responsibilities have remained, they are taking on more…

States are taking several distinct approaches to implement reverse transfer policies. Although contextualized by state-specific factors, approaches to policy implementation commonly include determination of a group or regulatory body responsible for policy oversight, technology, funding and identification of students eligible to participate in…

While there is a whole field devoted to the widely esteemed enterprise of epistemology, until fairly recently much less attention has been given to "agnotology," the study of ignorance. Epistemologists of ignorance use the concept agnotology to signify the study of the making and unmaking of ignorance, as well as the task of…

In "Redefining the School District in America," Nelson Smith reexamines existing recovery school districts (RSDs)--entities in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Michigan charged with running and turning around their state's worst schools--and assembles the most comprehensive catalog of similar initiatives underway and under consideration…

As demand for a highly educated and skilled workforce grows, many governors have made student college and career readiness a priority in 2012. In their State of the State addresses, governors in Mississippi, Missouri, Virginia, and Wisconsin promoted the expansion of dual enrollment programs as a key strategy for strengthening academic…

In 2011, the Harvard Graduate School of Education released "Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century." The report argued that the current education system was too narrowly focused on the goal of preparing all young people to pursue a four-year college or university degree immediately…

This brief begins with a discussion of the composition of state leadership teams and organizing structures for supporting a Pathways to Prosperity Network initiative, and then describes effective strategies currently at play in the network states for jumpstarting work in the regions. It goes on to review state policies that support 9-14…